Hi everyone, welcome to my blog! I am a UK volunteer with voluntary service overseas and I'll be living in Rwanda in a small town called Nzige. Nzige is in Rwamagana district to the east of the country towards Tanzania.I'll be going out to Rwanda as an education volunteer to work on UNICEF's child friendly schools campaign. by teaching in a teacher training college and setting up a resource centre.

Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Buses and donuts

The other day I was the only woman on the bus. It was just me and 18 men. And predictably I attracted quite a bit of attention. I was gawped at for the entire half hour, some people don’t even blink when they stare which I find quite odd. And predictably, my marital status came up. So as usual I decided to marry myself. It’s just easier that way. Where I always come unstuck is my lack of wedding ring. Now why after all this experience out there in the world I haven’t got myself a fake wedding ring I don’t know. One with a big fake rock and a shiny gold band, the blingier the better. If you’re going to go fake you might as well do it in style. So the best reason I could come up with as to why I wasn’t wearing my ring was that it ‘gets scratched on the bus’. And when you think about it that is a bit ridiculous really. I think when you get to a lie upon a lie it gets harder to sound convincing.

That weekend I also made a very interesting discovery. There is a place in Kigali that makes fresh bagels and donuts and chocolate chip cookies! Ok so I have never seen so many muzungus in one place but it was still amazing. The donuts were warm and sticky and chocolately and fresh from the charcoal stove. I just had to take a picture of the woman cooking them on the charcoal stove. I think thats the best way to cook them as they were delicious. The fact that they were so nice combined with months of donut deprivation made me have to restrain myself from eating a whole tray. I remember once trying to explain what a donut was to a Rwandan and finding it difficult. So if I ever randomly have to explain that word again I have a picture to show them. The place is called the African bagel company if anyone reading this is ever in Kigali. If you are suffering western food withdrawal symptoms I recommend it.

3 comments:

I just happened to find your blog when searching for Rwanda and I am so glad I did. I read it all in one afternoon and favorite placed it.

I visited Rwanda last March and am going back in May for 5 weeks. It's so great to read that you had some of the same experiences, such as their love of Kenny Rogers and Boney M. haha...

I would like to find this donut shop. Are there any landmarks? Is it in Nyamirambo? Is it in town? My friends haven't heard of it, and I'd love to see them try their first donut, ever...though I don't wish to be responsible for the many donuts they will eat after that.

The donut shop is great! You should visit. Its in an area called kicikiro. Its off the road from the sonatubes roundabout which goes towards nyamata. It is a little way up the hill past kicikiro market, its the first building on the second road on the left after the market. It is signposted from the main road.